Dessert Recipes

Finnish fingers (sokerikakkusormet) are short, buttery shortbread sticks brushed with egg white and rolled in pearl sugar for a crunchy, sparkling exterior. Classic Scandinavian Christmas cookie.

Pennsylvania Dutch funny cake baked in a pie shell with chocolate sauce on the bottom and vanilla cake on top. Two layers swap places in the oven like magic.

German cheese torte with a cinnamon graham crust top and bottom, filled with ricotta beaten with eggs, sugar, and a splash of heavy cream. Old-world dessert, baked in a springform.

Gluten-free maple bean tarts with white kidney beans blended into a maple syrup and brown sugar filling, poured over raisins in bean-flour tart shells. Lower fat and naturally gluten-free.

A fantasitc recipe, I made this recipe for my kids, and my husband he loves it too.

The cookies will keep, their flavor improving, for at least a week.

Old-fashioned apple ring fritters: peeled apple slices dipped in a quick milk-and-egg batter, pan-fried in shortening until golden, and dusted with cinnamon sugar. A 30-minute dessert from grandma's kitchen.

Kourabiedes are traditional Greek butter cookies with ground almonds and brandy, dusted heavily in powdered sugar. Fragile, sandy, and meant for celebrations.

Lemon blossom pie with tall and tender meringue: a classic Southern-style bright lemon curd filling in a flaky baked pie shell, crowned with a sky-high, cloud-soft meringue that slices clean without weeping.

Lemon coriander crescent cookies: buttery, powder-dusted shortbread scented with ground coriander and bright lemon zest. An unexpected spice pairing for the holiday cookie tin.

Old-fashioned sour cream cookies with nutmeg, rolled and cut into rounds with a sugar-sprinkled top. Soft, tender, and lightly spiced with a big-batch yield of 60 cookies.

Single-crust pastry pie shell with margarine, blind-baked at high heat until golden in 10 minutes. A basic flaky pastry that works as a base for cream pies, custards, and fruit fillings.

Italian polenta cake with ground almonds, cornmeal, orange and lemon zest, and vanilla bean. Naturally gluten-free with a tender, grainy crumb and citrus perfume.

Pumpkin snack cake spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and allspice, made lighter with egg substitute and low-fat milk. Soft, moist, and dusted with powdered sugar.

Spiced pumpkin or winter squash cake with a classic cooked caramel frosting. Four autumn spices, buttermilk tenderness, and a rich old-fashioned finish worth the candy thermometer.

Quick red velvet cake: yellow cake mix hack with buttermilk, cocoa powder, and red food coloring. A doctored box shortcut that delivers moist, classic red velvet in under an hour.